COVID-19 vaccines taken by people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which affects millions worldwide, safely and effectively protects them from the SARS-Cov-2 virus, a Rutgers study finds. The comprehensive review, published in the journal Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, focused on all studies describing the response of patients with IBD who were administered a COVID-19 vaccine. People with IBD are commonly treated with drugs that suppress the immune system and have reported concerns over whether such treatments might weaken their response to the vaccine. “We wanted to demonstrate in a systematic way that the vaccines will safely protect our IBD patients from COVID-19,” said study author Abhishek Bhurwal, an Advanced IBD Fellow in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. “Our systematic review and meta-analysis confirmed that the vaccines are safe and work well in our patients.” To read the full story.